Every National Park Service site.

The full network, by designation.

The 489 NPS units below cover every state, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. Designation buckets are sorted by unit count descending; National Monuments and National Historic Sites dominate the network numerically, while the 50-something units carrying the official "National Park" designation carry the majority of the system's foot traffic. The breakdown across the network: 83 National Monuments · 78 National Historic Sites · 64 National Historical Parks · 54 Other NPS sites · 51 National Parks · 18 National Historic Trails · 17 National Memorials · 16 National Recreation Areas · 11 Parks · 11 National Battlefields · 10 National Seashores · 9 National Preserves · 9 National Military Parks · 8 National Park & Preserves · 6 National Scenic Trails · 4 National Battlefield Parks · 3 National Monument & Preserves · 3 National Lakeshores · 3 Parkways · 2 National River & Recreation Areas · 2 National Scenic Rivers · 2 National Reserves · 2 Memorials · 2 Wild & Scenic Rivers · 1 Wild River · 1 National Historic Area · 1 National Battlefield Site · 1 National River · 1 National Historical Reserve · 1 National Monument and Historic Shrine · 1 Memorial Parkway · 1 National Geologic Trail · 1 National Historical Park and Preserve · 1 National Wild and Scenic River · 1 National Recreational River · 1 National Scenic Riverways · 1 National and State Parks · 1 International Park · 1 National Scenic Riverway · 1 International Historic Site · 1 National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve · 1 National Parks · 1 Ecological & Historic Preserve · 1 Scenic & Recreational River · 1 Affiliated Area.

Within each designation, units are sorted by their 5-year average of annual Recreation Visits (descending), so the headline units of each bucket land at the top. Units without a complete five-year visit window show "—" in the visits column; those are mostly newly designated units, administrative records, or sites that don't have staffed visitor counting.

National Monuments (83).

National Monuments are units designated by presidential proclamation under the Antiquities Act, typically protecting a specific natural, cultural, or historic feature. The category is the largest single bucket in the NPS network, many National Monuments later become National Parks through congressional action, and the bucket's headline units (Statue of Liberty, Devils Tower, Bandelier, Casa Grande Ruins) cover the full range of monuments-as-attractions versus monuments-as-protections.

National Historic Sites (78).

National Historic Sites preserve a specific place tied to a significant person or event in American history: homes, battlefields, factories, memorials. The bucket is one of the larger designation groups by count but smaller by visits; many sites are urban or in small towns, and their seasonal pattern is closer to a museum's than a wilderness park's.

National Historical Parks (64).

National Historical Parks are larger than National Historic Sites; they typically protect a connected complex of buildings, landscapes, and stories rather than a single building. The bucket includes some of the most-visited NPS units on the system (Boston, Independence in Philadelphia, San Antonio Missions) and a number of newer designations honoring civil-rights, labor, and women's history.

Other NPS sites (54).

These units either have no top-level designation listed in the NPS Data API or are administrative records tied to a parent unit ("Part of …"). They are listed here for completeness; most are not staffed for visitor counting and don't carry their own visit totals.

National Parks (51).

These are the 50-something units carrying the official "National Park" designation; the units that dominate the popular imagination and the system's annual visit total. The bucket includes both the marquee western parks (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Rocky Mountain) and a long tail of smaller and remote parks (Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Congaree, Great Basin, the Alaskan parks). For deeper data on this bucket specifically, see the most-visited and least-crowded rankings linked at the bottom of the page.

National Historic Trails (18).

National Historic Trails follow routes of historical significance, the Trail of Tears, the Oregon Trail, the California Trail. They cross multiple states and don't have a single visitor center to count traffic at; the visit totals here are imperfect and lean on partner-site reporting where it exists.

National Memorials (17).

National Memorials commemorate a specific historic person or event. The bucket includes the most-visited single units on the system (the Lincoln Memorial complex on the National Mall) alongside small standalone memorials in towns across the country. Visit totals here are uneven because many memorials are operated as part of a larger urban park complex.

National Recreation Areas (16).

National Recreation Areas are typically managed for water-based or large-landscape recreation: reservoir lakes, river corridors, urban-adjacent open space. They sometimes carry visit totals that rival the marquee National Parks (Lake Mead, Glen Canyon, Gateway in New York and New Jersey), driven by day-use boating, beach, and trail traffic rather than by destination tourism.

Parks (11).

Units carrying just the "Park" designation are mostly urban or specialty units that don't fit the broader unit categories; Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. and several other small District of Columbia units anchor this group.

National Battlefields (11).

National Battlefields preserve the grounds of significant U.S. military engagements; primarily Civil War sites in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. The bucket is one of the smaller designation groups but is heavily visited as a school-trip and history-tourism destination, with most units peaking in late spring and early fall.

National Seashores (10).

National Seashores protect coastal landscapes, barrier islands, beaches, dunes, and lagoons. The bucket is small but very heavily visited, especially Cape Cod, Cape Hatteras, and Padre Island. Visit patterns are tightly seasonal and tilt summer-and-shoulder for most units.

National Preserves (9).

National Preserves are similar to National Parks in landscape value but allow uses (subsistence hunting, fishing, snowmobile access) that the National Park designation doesn't. Several units are paired as National Park & Preserve combinations in Alaska and the Lower 48.

National Military Parks (9).

National Military Parks are larger than National Battlefields, typically encompassing multi-day campaigns and broader military landscapes: Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Shiloh, and Chickamauga & Chattanooga anchor this category and drive most of its annual visits.

National Park & Preserves (8).

National Park & Preserve units combine the protection of a National Park with the multi-use rules of a National Preserve, mostly in Alaska where subsistence access is a stated value. Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias, Lake Clark, Katmai, and Glacier Bay are the headliners.

National Scenic Trails (6).

National Scenic Trails are the long-distance recreational trails managed in partnership with the NPS; the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails sit here. Like Historic Trails, they cross many states and don't have a single visit-counting node; reported visits lean on partner-site reporting.

National Battlefield Parks (4).

National Battlefield Parks are a smaller designation category between National Battlefield and National Military Park. The bucket includes a handful of Civil War and Revolutionary War sites where the original "National Battlefield" was expanded to cover surrounding landscape.

National Monument & Preserves (3).

National Monument & Preserve units combine the National Monument designation with Preserve rules, similar to the National Park & Preserve pattern. Aniakchak in Alaska is the headline unit in this small bucket.

National Lakeshores (3).

National Lakeshores protect freshwater coastal landscapes, all on the Great Lakes, Indiana Dunes, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Apostle Islands, and Pictured Rocks. The category is small but consistently among the higher per-unit visited groups, with traffic concentrated in summer.

Parkways (3).

Parkways are scenic roads administered by the NPS; Blue Ridge Parkway, Natchez Trace Parkway, Baltimore-Washington Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is consistently the most-visited unit on the entire NPS system; the parkway category as a whole carries one of the highest total visit counts of any designation.

National River & Recreation Areas (2).

2 NPS units carries the "National River & Recreation Area" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Scenic Rivers (2).

2 NPS units carries the "National Scenic River" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Reserves (2).

2 NPS units carries the "National Reserve" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

Memorials (2).

2 NPS units carries the "Memorial" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

Wild & Scenic Rivers (2).

2 NPS units carries the "Wild & Scenic River" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

Wild River (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "Wild River" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Historic Area (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Historic Area" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Battlefield Site (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Battlefield Site" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National River (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National River" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Historical Reserve (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Historical Reserve" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Monument and Historic Shrine (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Monument and Historic Shrine" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

Memorial Parkway (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "Memorial Parkway" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Geologic Trail (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Geologic Trail" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Historical Park and Preserve (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Historical Park and Preserve" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Wild and Scenic River (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Wild and Scenic River" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Recreational River (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Recreational River" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Scenic Riverways (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Scenic Riverways" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National and State Parks (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National and State Parks" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

International Park (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "International Park" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Scenic Riverway (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Scenic Riverway" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

International Historic Site (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "International Historic Site" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

National Parks (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "National Parks" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

Ecological & Historic Preserve (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "Ecological & Historic Preserve" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

Scenic & Recreational River (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "Scenic & Recreational River" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

Affiliated Area (1).

A single NPS unit carries the "Affiliated Area" designation. The category is a tail-end designation, small in count, and in most cases the designation is purpose-built for the specific unit it covers rather than a category with many members.

Methodology

Unit list, designations, and per-unit visit counts come from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025, plus the public NPS Data API for designation labels and home-state codes. The "5-yr avg visits" column is the mean of Recreation Visits for 2021-2025; some smaller units don't yet have a full five-year window of monthly data, and a handful of administrative records are not staffed for visitor counting (those show "—"). Multi-state units (Yellowstone in WY-MT-ID, Death Valley in CA-NV, Great Smoky Mountains in TN-NC, and others) list every state code they touch in the "State(s)" column; the visit total is the unit's network total, not a per-state share. The designation buckets follow the NPS Data API's primary designation field; a small number of administrative records with no designation listed are grouped together at the end as "Other NPS site." Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.